Electrically tunable two-dimensional liquid crystals gratings induced by polarization holography

Two-dimensional (2D) gratings made up of an array of differently twisted nematic structures are obtained by crossed assembling of 1D polarization holograms recorded at the photoaligning substrates. The rotating linear polarization pattern, produced by the interference of two opposite circularly polarized beams, is recorded on the azo-dye doped polyimide aligning layers. The 2D gratings diffract light in different directions with different polarization states, that can be optically controlled. Orthogonal circularly and linearly polarized diffraction orders are simultaneously obtained irradiating the grating with a linearly polarized beam. An external ac voltage allows to completely control the diffracted energy distribution. (c) 2007 Optical Society of America